Nansen had not been at home very long before he began making preparations for a second voyage to the icy North. This time he meant to find the North Pole if possible.

Nansen believed the theory that a current in the Arctic ocean passes over the pole. His plan was to work his way through the ice to the New Siberia islands, and then allow his vessel to be frozen in the ice pack. He believed that the vessel would be carried with the drift across the pole, to the east coast of Greenland. It was a daring plan, but the people of Norway now believed in Nansen and were willing to assist him. They gave him an amount equal to $75,600 of our money, so that he was able to equip his expedition.

First of all he had a vessel built which would resist ice pressures. The hull was shaped so that the pressure would raise the vessel up on the ice, instead of crushing her. This vessel was called the Fram, a Norwegian word which means “onward.” Nansen chose his crew, all natives of Norway, and made the necessary preparations for the voyage. Enough provisions were put on board to last five years. Sverdrup, who had been so brave and helpful during the trip across Greenland, was chosen to command the Fram.

At last everything was ready, and the day of departure arrived. The Fram was lying in Christiania harbor when Nansen boarded her (1893). While they were still sailing along the coast of Norway, a severe storm arose. The sea broke over the rails of the vessel, and for a while Nansen feared that the deck cargo would be carried overboard, and that the Fram would meet with disaster before she reached the ice. But the storm cleared, the sun shone again, and the men had a last glimpse of their native land.

Then a dense fog surrounded the vessel, and she headed for the dreaded Kara sea. The Kara sea was filled with ice, but the Fram behaved admirably. Nansen said that it was a pleasure to take her into difficult ice, because she was so strong, and that she turned and twisted as easily as a ball on a plate.

The Fram proceeded along the bleak Siberian coast. One morning a herd of walruses came in sight. Nansen and two companions jumped into a boat and went after them. One of the men threw a harpoon at the nearest walrus, but did not hit him. This proceeding so startled the other walruses that they plunged into the water, but not before Nansen had shot two of them. They rose again around the boat, bellowing and roaring, and lashing the sea into a foam. It seemed likely that the powerful animals would overturn the boat or pierce it with their tusks. But no accident happened, and Nansen secured several walruses, which served as food for the crew.

By September 25, 1893, they had reached the New Siberia islands, where the Fram was unable to push her way farther, and was soon frozen in the pack. Now there was nothing to do but to wait. At first the time passed pleasantly enough. The men amused themselves by playing games, caring for the dogs, taking observations, and making various kinds of tools; but soon they had to bestir themselves, for on October 5, the first severe ice pressure took place.

Nansen was in the cabin chatting with his companions, when they heard a terrific noise and felt the ship tremble from bow to stern. Every one rushed to the deck to see how the Fram would conduct herself. The noise steadily increased, and the ice cracked on every side. The sea tossed the floes, which were from ten to fifteen feet thick, one upon another, until immense piles of ice were heaped around. The Fram quivered all over and then was lifted gently up. After a few moments the uproar had ceased, and the ship sank slowly down again into her old position. Nansen was delighted, because the Fram had behaved during the nip just as he had hoped. Had she not risen and pushed the floes down beneath her, she would have been crushed among them.

The autumn passed away pleasantly. Polar bears were numerous, and the men enjoyed the sport of hunting them. When Christmas (1893) came, the day was celebrated by a very good dinner. The men made speeches and gave one another Christmas gifts. They did not dream that another Christmas would find them still drifting, with the knowledge that little headway had been made.

At last Nansen made up his mind to leave the ship and journey by sledge with one of his companions toward the North Pole. All the crew set to work to prepare for this dangerous trip. The dogs were exercised and trained, sledges and kayaks were built, and provisions weighed out and packed. The weather was bitterly cold, the wind blew fiercely, and ice pressures were increasing in number and severity.

On January 3, 1895, the Fram encountered the most severe pressure which she had to meet. The accumulated floes formed a ridge of ice which reached to the ship and was level with the rails. Masses of ice dashed over the decks, and the crashing and grinding were terrible to hear.

Nansen feared that the ship would be crushed, and orders were given to put everything in a place of safety. But the stanch vessel held her own, and came out of the pressure safely. When the danger was over, the Fram was found to be uninjured, but one of her sides was buried in the ice mound, which reached six feet above the rails.

About two months later, Nansen set out upon his daring trip toward the pole. He took Johansen with him, and left the Fram, then in latitude 84° north, in command of Otto Sverdrup. The journey northward had to be made over difficult ice filled with hummocks, and, worse than this, a southerly drift set in, which carried the whole pack south almost as fast as they traveled north. Many of the dogs became utterly exhausted and had to be killed. It made Nansen very sad to be obliged to part with the faithful animals who had helped him so much.

At night Nansen and Johansen were so tired that they often fell asleep while eating their supper. When they crept into their sleeping bags, their clothes were sometimes frozen stiff, but the heat of their bodies in their bags thawed them out.

Notwithstanding all these hardships, Nansen and his companion succeeded in reaching 86° 14ʹ north latitude on April 8, 1895. This was the highest latitude so far reached by any explorer. The North Pole was but two hundred and sixty-one miles farther north. Nansen knew he could not reach the pole through such masses of floes and hummocks, and accordingly he decided to return, changing his course to the south. The travelers found many channels between the ice floes, which were difficult to cross. The dogs were now so few in number that the men had to do dogs’ work, and drag the sledges. The ice became soft, so that the ski and the sledges sank deep into it. Sometimes the men sank in up to their armpits.

Nansen’s report of this journey has led many people to believe that the warm and the cold ocean currents meet at the pole, and that the effect of the united currents is to make the ice rotten and dangerous for travel. Some explorers believe that it is impossible to travel the last hundred miles of the journey toward the pole by sledge or boat. They think that the ice is too soft for sledge travel, and too compact for travel by boat. If this be true, a balloon or airship will have to be used in order to reach the pole. It is no wonder that Nansen and Johansen became discouraged.

By June 30, 1895, the two explorers were certain that they would have to pass the winter in the ice. Nansen knew that he must secure some game, for his provisions would not last through the winter; therefore he and Johansen pushed on south as fast as they could, and at last shot a seal and a bear. Only two dogs were left, and at length they too had to be shot. One dog was Nansen’s favorite, and the other was Johansen’s. Nansen took Johansen’s dog behind a hummock, and Johansen did the same with Nansen’s. Then both guns were fired together and the faithful dogs were dead. This was the hardest thing these two men had to do during the journey. When they met again, they felt so sad that neither of them could speak.

One day, while looking through the telescope, Nansen saw land in the distance. The two men hastened toward it, and for the first time in two years they felt the naked earth beneath their feet. It was summer, and seals, birds, and flowers were all about them. In front lay the open sea, and Nansen thought he might sail on, and perhaps reach home. But he was disappointed, for after sailing a short distance, he again found ice and was obliged to return.

It was now certain that Nansen and Johansen would have to pass the winter on the island, and they began their preparations for it. They built a hut of stone, and stretched walrus hides over the roof and floor. Fortunately game was plenty, so that they shot many seals and walruses. The blubber of the walrus was a favorite article of diet, for in cold countries men long for fatty food. It was so cold that often Nansen and Johansen had to sleep in the same bag in order to keep warm. Sometimes they drew pieces of blubber out of the lamp and ate them. These favorite dainties they called biscuit. The walrus hides attracted the bears and foxes to the hut, so that often during the winter the men succeeded in securing fresh meat.

The winter was a long and weary one. Though Christmas, 1895, found them rather low-spirited, they made up their minds to observe the day. Their celebration consisted of reversing their shirts, and treating themselves to bread and chocolate. They broke up their camp in the spring (May, 1896), and started southward by water.

During this trip Nansen nearly lost his life. The men left their kayaks one day fastened to the edge of the ice, while they went to the top of a hummock to look around. Presently Johansen shouted, “The kayaks are adrift.” Both men rushed for the water, and Nansen, reaching it first, jumped in and swam for the boats. The water was terribly cold and the boats had drifted a long distance, but Nansen knew that the loss of the boats meant death to him and his companion. He swam as long as he could, and then lay on his back and floated, to rest. Again he tried to swim, but his limbs became stiff and numb so that he could scarcely move them. Feebly he pushed on until he succeeded in grasping a ski which was lying across the bow, and so drawing the kayak to him. It was almost more than his chilled and weary body could accomplish to pull himself into one of the boats and paddle back. Johansen, who was anxiously watching, expected every moment to see his companion sink down unconscious. But Nansen’s iron will and strength conquered. Johansen gave Nansen a warm drink, and put him to bed in his sleeping bag.

Two days later Nansen went walrus hunting, and had another narrow escape. One of the walruses stuck his tusks through the side of the kayak and nearly upset it, but Nansen struck the walrus with the paddle until he loosed his hold and swam away.

Shortly after this adventure, Nansen was one day standing on a hummock, looking round over the vast desert of snow, ice, and rock. Suddenly he heard a sound like the bark of a dog, and then something very like the report of a gun. He shouted to Johansen, who called back that he heard nothing. Nevertheless, Nansen resolved to go in the direction of the sound, and find out what it was. Off he started over the hummocks. After traveling some distance he came upon the footprints of an animal. It might have been the track of a fox or a wolf, but it looked strangely like the track of a dog. Then Nansen distinctly heard a dog barking in the distance. Very soon he heard a human voice also. Wild with excitement and joy, he mounted a hummock and shouted at the top of his lungs.

An answering shout started him off at full speed in the direction from which it came. Amid a sea of hummocks, Nansen soon saw the figure of a man, followed by a dog. The two men walked toward each other, waving their hats. When they met they shook hands, and after they had exchanged a few words the stranger looked sharply at Nansen, and said, “Are you not Nansen?”

“Yes, I am.”

“By Jove! I am glad to meet you.”

The two shook hands again and again. The stranger was Jackson, the English Arctic explorer, and his ship, the Windward, was expected every day. Jackson told Nansen that the land on which he stood was Franz Josef land.

Jackson then sent a man to bring Johansen to his camp, and soon both he and Nansen were enjoying the comforts of civilized life. After fifteen months of blubber and bear meat, it was a welcome change to eat the food of white men, to sleep in beds, to read newspapers and books, and to have a change of clothing.

It was arranged that Nansen and Johansen should sail with Jackson on the Windward for Norway. The ship arrived July 26, and August 7, under a favorable wind, the whole party embarked.

A pilot boarded the vessel when she reached the coast of Norway, and when he found that Nansen was a passenger, he was amazed. The pilot told Nansen that everybody thought him dead, for the Fram had not been heard from. Nansen assured him that the Fram was safe, for he felt sure that Sverdrup would bring the vessel home.

Immediately after landing, Nansen and Johansen went to a telegraph office, where they sent many dispatches, so that the wonderful news of their return was soon received over all parts of the civilized world.

Nansen had succeeded in reaching latitude 86° 14ʹ, farther north than any other explorer had yet attained, and had returned safely. Millions of people rejoiced, and Nansen’s name was upon every tongue.

At Hammerfest, Nansen met his wife and Sir George Baden-Powell, who had been on the point of sending out an expedition in search of him. But Nansen’s heart was heavy in the midst of all the rejoicing, for no news had been heard from the Fram, and although he had perfect confidence in Otto Sverdrup, he began to fear that harm had befallen his brave comrades.

One morning he was awakened by Sir Baden-Powell knocking at his door. “Come down immediately,” said Sir Baden; “a man wishes to see you.” Nansen hurriedly dressed and ran below.

There stood the manager of the telegraph office. The manager handed Nansen a telegram, which he opened with trembling fingers. It read as follows:—

Nansen nearly fainted with excitement and relief from his terrible anxiety. Sir Baden shouted with joy. Johansen smiled until his face looked like a full moon. As soon as the good news of the Fram’s return became known, the general rejoicing in Hammerfest spread to all parts of the world.

Nansen’s daring expedition to the North had ended successfully, and without the loss of a single life. Although Nansen had not reached the pole, he had come within two hundred and sixty-one miles of it. This was two hundred miles nearer than any previous explorer had penetrated. The theory of the southeast current was proved to be correct, for the Fram had drifted into a high latitude, and then out into the Atlantic between Spitzbergen and Greenland. If the Fram had entered the ice pack three hundred miles farther east, Nansen believes that she would have drifted in a course parallel to the one she actually followed. This course would have carried her over the pole.